Community social security today faces the pressing challenge of reducing regional disparities in welfare provision. One distinctive issue in community social security policies is the variation in perceived social exclusion and deprivation across regions. One’s “zip code” significantly impacts one’s quality of life. To tackle the shortage of welfare resources and address various local social issues and the complex, deep-set needs of community residents, new policy interventions are necessary that differ from the existing nationally-standardized benefit payment scheme. Feasible alternatives might include “place-based initiatives.” Against this background, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) embarked in 2020 on the Social Security Special Support Zones Project, pursuant to Article 48 of the Act on the Use and Provision of Social Security Benefits and Search for Eligible Beneficiaries. This is a community impact project that residents, public officials, and private-sector groups work on in collaboration. The MOHW’s role in the support project is to provide financial, capacity-building, and planning support over a four-year period for small localities with a high proportion of low-income households and a shortage of welfare resources, aiming to enable them to address their problems independently. Localities eligible to apply for the special support are limited to those meeting certain criteria regarding the concentration of socially vulnerable groups. The first wave of this project, which began in 2020 for eight cities, counties, and districts, ended in 2023. The second wave is ongoing for another eight cities, counties, and districts. In this issue of the Health and Welfare Forum, we provide a comprehensive overview of the Social Security Special Support Zones Project, including its aim, key principles, and logical framework. We also review the cases of programs undertaken as part of the first wave of the project―community-led provision of multi-functional shared spaces, community-tailored social services, community activities, and community organizing―and discuss their policy implications for improvement.

The Social Security Special Support Zones Project, nationally subsidized and run by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, is a community impact initiative that, with a legal basis in Article 48 of the Act on the Use and Provision of Social Security Benefits and Search for Eligible Beneficiaries, brings together residents, the government, and private-sector groups to build sustainable welfare systems in small localities concentrated with socially vulnerable groups. This article discusses the basic features of the special support project, its three guiding principles, logical framework, components, and systemic characteristics. In addition, we review key issues addressed in the project’s first round across eight municipalities, along with the involved visions and strategies. This article also examines the progress made in this project, assessing policy effectiveness from the recipient perspective, sustainability, and diffusion, from which we draw policy implications for advancing the project.

Our lives are affected by our living spaces. Many residents of slum communities, having nowhere nearby to go, often find themselves isolated from social connections and cut off from others, ashamed of their neighborhoods and wishing to be elsewhere. The Social Security Special Support Zones Project, in its first round, involved building and operating “multi-functional shared spaces” where residents of underprivileged communities can come together and connect with each other―something they can be proud of having. These spaces serve as community assets, owned by the residents, encompassing not only physical indoor areas but also virtual spaces such as YouTube, as well as outdoor areas where residents can gather and connect. The shared spaces have been used in earnest as places for identifying households in need and providing them with necessary social services, linking various organizations and resources, building inter-community connections and relationships, and learning and engaging in activities for independent living. This article argues, however, that despite all these community efforts, limitations still remain that call for continued support from the central government.

The Social Security Special Support Zones Project, aimed at enhancing support for areas where social services are insufficient, has as one of its goals the provision of social services tailored to local characteristics. This article looks in particular at community-tailored social services provided as part of the first wave of the special support project. These services, primarily intended for older adults and disabled residents, achieved considerable success in many respects despite the relatively short timeframe of the project. This success is attributed to the ‘provision of services reflecting the community needs,’ ‘community residents not just as service recipients but also as partners in problem solving,’ and ‘support and collaboration from various organizations.’ In addition, I discuss policy implications for further, sustained success in the support project.

Community activities and resident organizing hold great significance in the Social Security Special Support Zones Project, as it is through these undertakings that its outcomes are rendered sustainable. These efforts represent attempts by community and resident organizations to address the needs of their municipalities, where social service providers are scarce despite a high proportion of socially vulnerable residents. These initiatives have led not only to enhanced resident capacity-building but also to the expansion of resident organizations. This article examines eight cases of community activities and resident organizing, exploring their components and outcomes across seven localities involved in the first wave of the special support project.

In South Korea, the central government provides parental leave benefits, child allowances, and parental benefits, while local governments offer maternity benefits in a discretionary manner. However, without an income security system for unemployed parents, the design of parental leave benefits primarily serves working couples with stable jobs, potentially leading to regressive income redistribution. Additionally, maternity grants, which vary significantly across regions, are administered arbitrarily by local governments, lacking concrete evidence of their effectiveness in boosting birth rates. Therefore, reforms are necessary in the cash benefits system for families with children to minimize the risk of regressive redistribution and to ensure equitable and sufficient access to benefits for everyone during childbearing and parenting periods.